Silent Hill, Darkness Shade Mix: A DDR XMAS story
by Darkness Shade
Summary: A holiday themed side story to my DDR saga...just something I thought I'd type for the Xmas season. Read it, Review it, Enjoy It!


Silent Hill (Darkness Shade Mix): A DDR Xmas Story

By Darkness Shade

A/N: Hello…figured I'd make an Xmas fic to go with my DDR stories, since my Sonic series got one…not sure what to do on this one, but we'll see as it comes to me……^_^" BTW, this doesn't really fit anywhere into the others, its just sorta a side story deal…and it helps to have read my other story DDR HEARTS before hand (and perhaps the first chapter of DDR CITY…), or you may be lost…and Scott will show up in another story soon enough, so his mysterious past will get revealed there…otherwise enjoy!

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Ryan's House Wednesday, December 10th

"Hurry up Ryan or we won't get there when it opens if you don't!" Charmy shouted from downstairs.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Ryan said, throwing on his jacket and grabbing his bag.

"About time…" Dark said.

"Hey…shut up!" Ryan said, slightly frustrated.

"What? It just wouldn't be the same today without you hanging with us there." Dark said, grinning and looking over his shades.

"Yeah, that is true." Mia said, pouring some tea into her thermos, "And I know Scott would never forgive you for being late."

"Okay, okay…lay off, let's just get going." Ryan said, heading outside with the others. 

The four of them flew off into the air as a light, yet sinister seeming breeze drifted by.

After they were out of sight, a shadowy, familiar figure walked out of the shadows.

"Soon, for it will that time…you shall feel my revenge." Said the shadow, flying off in the opposite direction.

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Adventure Landing

Scott stood outside, tapping his foot and leaning against his sword, "He's gonna be late."

Just as he said that, Ryan and the others appeared in the sky above.

"Heya Scott!!" Dark shouted.

"Hey Dark…Ryan, I almost thought you'd be late." Scott said, strapping his sword to his back.

"Me? Late…? On a Wednesday? When I have no school? Yeah…what are you on that's making you think that?" Ryan asked, somewhat overly dramatic.

"Um, Crazy Colors Ice Cream (A/N: inside joke), but that's beside the point…" Scott said.

The whole group sans Scott fell over.

"Look, " Charmy said getting up, "Let's just go in and play."  
"Right, let us enjoy our time together." Mia said, following her in.

Scott, Dark, and Ryan followed suit and entered the building.

"So, what should we play first?" Mia asked, sipping her warm tea.

"I've got the just the song." Scott said, picking 'Silent Hill'.

Dark sung along, "Lights on the avenue, all seem so far…I'm up here, drinking a toast to you…on such special day!"

"Your so silly Dark-chan!" Mia said.

"Ack! I told you not to call me that around the others Mia!" Dark said, blushing furiously.

"Dark-chan, eh?" Scott said with a laugh, "Should I even ask why she's calling you that?"

"Just…don't ask." Dark said, sitting down and covering his head with his leather jacket.

"Hey, where did Ryan go?" Charmy asked, looking around.

"He was here," Scott said, when he heard someone pick 'Silent Hill (3rd Christmas Mix)'.

On the pad was someone in a Santa suit, playing on Doubles.

"How much ya wanna bet that's our missing friend?" Scott said, grinning.

"I'll take that bet, how much?" Dark said from within the confines of his jacket.

"Hmm, how about lunch?" Scott said, grinning.

"Sounds good…and I won't lose, since I know its not him." Dark said, grinning.

Scott walked up to the guy in the Santa suit after he was done, "Hey, that's some good playing there…of course, I'd expect nothing less from you Ryan."

"I'm not Ryan." The guy in the suit said.

"Well, unless your padding quite a bit, it's hard to fake that kinda stomach." Dark said.

Just then Scott felt a tap on his shoulder, "What?"

Scott spun around and there was Ryan, "Ryan? But…I thought that was you?"

"Are you crazy?" Ryan asked, "I'm all for doing something off-beat, but even this is too much for me."

"Then who's that guy?" Scott asked.

Dark laughed, "Don't you recognize Tyger when you see him?"

"Tyger?" Scott said, staring in disbelief.

"Yep, its me…for once I remembered about Wednesday and since its Christmas time, I thought I'd have some fun with 'Silent Hill'." Tyger said, taking off his beard and hat.

"Then that means…ack, I owe Dark lunch!" Scott said, hanging his head.

"Oh, yeah!" Dark said, laughing.

"That's not fair Darkness," Mia said, still sipping her tea, "Using your psychic link with Ryan to find out that it wasn't him."

"Psychic link? That's a tad foobar man…" Scott asked, looking at Dark with some flames in his eyes.

"Y…yeah…Scott, why are you looking at me like that?" Dark said, backing up just a bit.

"Oh, you mean I shouldn't be just a little pissed that you cheated?" Scott said, grabbing his sword.

"Uh, no?" Dark asked, starting to back up faster.

Ryan and Charmy sweatdropped.

"There they go again." Charmy said as Scott was chasing Dark.

"He should just parry with his Keysaber," Mia said, still quiet and sipping her tea, "He'd have a better chance then."

Meanwhile…

The shadow saw the antics inside and smirked.

"Those fools…its hard to believe they defeated me…but Scott seems to be a wild card…I've yet to face him, but he seems on par with the others…" it said, then it jumped onto the roof as Ryan and the others came outside.

The shadow's cloak flapped in the wind as it watched them fly off, "They must be off to lunch…enjoy your time fools, as you will pay for what you have done to me!"

The shadow faded away as the wind blew its flapping cloak.

Somewhere in the sky

"So, where we going to eat today?" Ryan said, floating on his back alongside the others.

"Well, wherever it is, Scott's paying." Dark said, grinning from ear to ear.

"-_-…" Scott glared at Dark.

"Look, I'll pay…jeez, you two chill." Ryan said, shaking his head.

"It's Christmas time! Be happy!!" Mia said, smiling cutely.

Ryan chuckled as Dark and Scott just rolled their eyes and refused to look at each other.

"Okay, since no one will decide, we're going to Cici's Pizza!" Charmy said, taking the lead.

"Wait…damn that girl. Well, let's go before she eats all the food!!" Ryan said, dashing off with the others behind.

Cici's Pizza

"Okay, now what are we gonna do when we go inside?" Ryan said, looking at Charmy and Dark…and Scott.

"Not draw attention to ourselves…" those three droned out.

Ryan was somewhat annoyed, but went in regardless.

"Yeah, we've got five here." Ryan said, pulling out his wallet.

"Okay…that'll be $25." Said the cashier.

The group went on, getting there plates and cups when…

"Hey…was that? It was…but what were they doing here?" the cashier said, not noticing the line of angry customers backing up.

"I just love the winter season, don't you?" Ryan said, sitting down with his friends.

"Yep, this cool weather doesn't come often, especially here in Jville." Scott said, munching on some Pepperoni pizza.

"Mmphommmph!" Charmy said, speaking through the two pizzas of pizza she had in her mouth.

The group sweatdropped as Ryan said, "Charmy…dear, please…what did I say about not drawing attention to yourself?"

"Mmphphee!" Charmy said, swallowing her pizza.

"I take that to be sorry, just…Dark!" Ryan said, Dark shoving a tree-shaped pizza into his mouth.

"Mmmph Mmmm phhhmmmph! (Don't be such a spazz!)…" Dark said, spraying food on the group.

"Ewww! Gross!" Mia said, wiping it off.

"Wait a tick," Ryan said, picking up a piece of the food with a napkin, "Dark! That was a foam tree, not a pizza."

By that time, though, Dark had already ingested it.

Ryan's eyes got very dim and his mouth became a line, Scott sweatdropped, and Mia just sipped her tea.

As the group settled down and ate quietly, Ryan sensed something.

"Hmmm, what is this feeling? I've…felt this before…." Ryan said absentmindedly.

"Felt what?" Scott asked.

"You should be able to sense it." Ryan said.

Scott did indeed feel something rather evil, "What…is this feeling?"

Ryan growled, "Ansemian…"

An evil, maniacal laugh filled the air of the restarurant, "So nice that you still remember me, Ryan…"

Anse appeared out of thin air, dressed in a black raincoat.

"What are you doing here? I thought we saw the last of you when the light finished off your last form…" Charmy said.

"Oh, perhaps it did…but, I'm still here…if you can call what I am here." Anse said, removing her hood and showing that her face was normal except for the left half, it was now black like a heartless, the glowing eye, antennae...the whole package.

Charmy gasped.

"So that's what happened to you…I can't believe you survived." Ryan said.

"Well I did…" Ansemian said, putting her hood back on, "And I've decided to not just get revenge against you."

A swarm of heartless soon wormed its way into the pizzeria.

'Damn! This isn't good…there's too many innocent people.' Dark thought, as he went for his Keysaber.

'Dark! Don't…not here…we need to lead them outside.' Ryan thought to his other self.

Dark nodded, "Hmph, I thought you were above this Anse…relying on the innocent to keep us from fighting."

Scott got the idea, "Yeah…from what these guys told me about you, you were some great villain, but this…this is the work of someone petty."

"Yeah…you're about as evil in doing this as that Zapper Zaku fella from SD Gundam." Ryan said.

The whole group laughed loudly at this.

"Grr…very well then…we'll take this outside!" Anse said, fading away.

"That was easier than I thought." Dark said, as the group headed outside to fight the heartless.

After the group was outside, the crowd started murmuring.

"That was some interesting entertainment." One guy said.

"Yeah…those were really good actors playing as Ryan and the others…" said another girl.

The manager talked to the junior manager, "How much did that cost you?"

"Um, nothing…that was the real deal sir."

"There? Are these terms better?" Anse said, slightly annoyed.

"Yeah…still doesn't mean you'll win though." Ryan said, materializing his Keysaber.

"Especially once you see my new attacks." Scott said, unholstering his sword.

"Heh…things are different than they used to be…" Anse said, signaling the heartless to attack.

Ryan led the charge, slicing through them.

Dark knocked one up and hitting it down into a group of heartless, eliminating them.

Scott used the force of his sword to create a huge shockwave that took care the rest.

"Ya know, you could've left some for us." Charmy said, slightly annoyed.

"Normal Shadows….got anything harder Anse?" Dark said, laughing.

Anse grinned, "Why of course…always save the best for last, remember?"

Anse threw her hands up as the sky darkened.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Mia said, hiding behind Dark.

"Don't worry…we're the good guys…we can't lose…" Dark said, "And besides…the author's on our side, so it can't be anything too difficult."

"You fools…behold, the most horrible Heartless to date." Anse said as a huge shadow welled up from the ground.

"What the…?" Scott said, as the shadow began to take a humanoid shape.

"No, it can't be…" Mia said.

"Terry?" Dark and Ryan said at the same time.

Anse laughed, "So will you fools attack your former friend? I'm more than sure he's willing to fight you…"

The Terry Heartless formed his dark Keysaber and charged at Ryan.

Ryan barely had time to parry the attack when 'Terry' charged into him.

Ryan went down hard.

"That looked like it hurt…" Anse said with a twisted grin.

"You want hurt? I got your hurt right here!" Dark said, chucking his Keysaber at her.

"Dude, that line sucked." Scott told Dark.

"Yeah…well…shut up!" Dark said.

'Terry' dashed forward and deflected Dark's attack back at him.

"Owie…"Dark said, taking a dive.

"I won't go down so easy…" Scott said, circling around 'Terry'.

"And you said…my line's sucked…ohhh…" Dark said before passing out.

'Terry' merely grinned.

He ran up to Scott, shoved his Keysaber into him and blew him away with a blast of energy.

"Ugh…" Scott said, hitting the turf.

"Hahahahaha! So much for being unbeatable…all that's left is to take you two away and that's it for part one of my plan…" Anse said to Charmy and Mia.

'Plan?' Charmy thought, "We aren't that weak…we can still take you on."

Anse merely chuckled as she charged straight into Charmy, knocking her out.

"I'm the last one left…Terry, please stop this!" Mia begged.

'Terry' stared at Mia, before charging at her.

"Ack!" Mia said, holding up her wand to block the attack.

Mia slid back along the ground from the force of the hit, "See? Told you I wasn't…that…weak…"

Mia fainted on the spot.

"*maniacal laughter* Good…now let's get those two and get outta here before they come to." Anse said.

'Terry' nodded, grabbed Charmy and Mia, and faded away with Anse…

Ryan was the first to awake, "What…happened?"

Dark held his head as he stood up, "Never realized how much power is behind that attack…"

Scott didn't move at all…

"Um, Scott?" Ryan said, giving him a nudge, "He's not moving."

"Maybe he's just asleep…" Dark said.

Ryan pulled Scott's jacket off of him, "Um…no…I think he's dead."

"And what makes you say that?" Dark said, walking over to where Scott was.

"Um…that gaping big hole in his stomach area…" Ryan said.

"Hey, it goes right through." Dark said…then he got smacked by Ryan, "What?"

"We need to get him to our house pronto…" Ryan said, picking him up, "Jeez, he's heavier than he looks."

"What about Charmy and Mia?" Dark said.

"We'll find them later…I probably know where they are, so they'll be okay for now." Ryan said, lifting off into the air towards his house.

Ryan entered the front door and put Scott down on the couch.

"Hey, he's getting his corpse fluids all over that…I just had it cleaned!" Dark said…then he got hit my Ryan again.

"Look, go get one of Mia's 'Angel Tears'…that should fix Scott right up." Ryan said.

"Okay, okay…jeez…" Dark said, walking off to his and Mia's room.

"I wonder how long we were out?" Ryan said, turning on the television, "It shouldn't matter…Scott will be back to new in no time."

Dark came back, "Um…there's a problem."  
"What might that be?" Ryan asked.

"Um…there's no 'Angel Tears' left." Dark said.

"._. What?" Ryan said, "No matter…I've got something else we can use."

Ryan walked into his, um, sorta trophy room of sorts, "It should be over here."

"Wow, I forgot about all this stuff we collected on our adventures…I remember this one…we got it when…" Dark started to say.

"Look, save that for the other fic Shades is working on, we've gotta get Scott back." Ryan said, pulling a feather off of his Chocobo statue.

"What, prey tell, are you going to do with that?" Dark said.

"This was a gift from Aerith…and this…" Ryan said, holding up the feather, "Is a Phoenix Down."

"Ah…so that's why you said to not touch it." Dark said.

"Right, so let's go give him this and then we'll move on from there." Ryan said.

Ryan let the feather fall on Scott and his wounds miraculously healed themselves.

"Huh? Who? What?" Scott said, jumping straight up, "Hey, I'm not dead anymore!"

"Yes…well, now that you're back…perhaps we should figure out where Charmy and them are." Dark said.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Ryan said, propping up in his lazy chair, "They'll pop soon enough."

"And how do you know that?" Scott asked, puzzled by Ryan's pleasant demeanor.

"Trust me…I can sense it." Ryan said, "Now come on, let's relax…the girls should be fine…"

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Somewhere Near the North Pole

"So, how are you girls doing?" Anse said.

"We're just fine…it's so warm in here." Mia said, sipping her cocoa.

"And these cookies you made taste great…" Charmy said, wolfing down a plate of them.

"That's good to hear…" Anse said, smiling.

"Did you just, smile?" Mia asked.

"Why, yes I did…hmm, that's amazing." Anse said, laughing…but not evilly, more like a girlish chuckle.

Charmy blinked at hearing her laugh like that, "Um, okay…not to spoil the mood or anything, but why did you take us hostage?"

"Oh, I merely need a ways to coerce Ryan and Dark here…as well as their other friend." Anse said, sitting down next to the girls.

"So…um, why did you come back here?" Charmy asked, "We all thought you were gone…you could've just started over."

"*sigh* I know…but something about how things ended…" Anse said, then shook her head, "I came back for revenge against him and that's all!!"

"Okay girl, calm down." Mia said, handing her a cup, "Here, have some cocoa."

"Thanks…but I will fight them…no matter what you say." Anse said, sipping her cup.

Meanwhile, a shadow was watching over her, "Hmph, Anse seems to have lost her edge…just look at how well she's treating those girls. Perhaps I should give her a little extra motivation…"

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Ryan's House Thursday, December 20

"It's been over a week…aren't you even the least bit worried about Charmy and Mia?" Dark asked, freaking out.

"Look, like I told you, they're both fine…I know it." Ryan said, "Besides…I figure now is about time for her to make her move anyway."

Just then the doorbell rang.

"That should be Scott…I hope he brought his stuff…cause he'll need it….." Ryan said, opening the door.

"Okay, you better have a good reason for asking me to pack for a journey, cause I don't like getting prepared for no reason." Scott said, coming in through the door.

"Don't worry…" Ryan reassured him.

Just then Dark came running towards them, "Guys! Its her!"

On the television screen, Anse appeared in a workshop of sorts, "Greetings Everyone, especially my friends Darkness Shade and Ryan."

"Told ya she'd show herself." Ryan said, "And look, there's Charmy and Mia in the background…and from what I can tell, they look fine."

"Sometimes I wonder how you managed to always be right…" Dark said.

"Just lucky, right?" Scott asked.

"I think it's a bit more than luck…" Ryan said.

"Anyway…I realize that my presence enough would be sufficient to have Ryan come after me, but I've taken the liberty of capturing a certain figure, that I believe is quite important to this Christmas season of yours." Anse said, as 'Terry' was shown holding Santa hostage with his dark Keysaber.

"That fiend, he's kidnapped Santa." Dark said, energy slightly flaring.

"Hmm, interesting…" Scott said, "Let's get going then!"

"Um, going where? We don't exactly know where they are…unless you happen to know where Santa's workshop is located at…" Ryan said.

"I'm sure Ryan and his little friends are curious as to where I am…well, a messenger should be along soon enough." Anse said, shutting off her live feed.

"A messenger?" Dark asked.

As if on cue, a loud explosion was heard outside.

"What the hell was that?" Scott said as the group ran outside.

Outside, a robot began flying out of a large crater created from its entry.

"Who the hell?" Ryan asked, "Great…"  
"Well, well…never thought you'd see me again, eh?" said a familiar looking reploid.

"You know this guy?" Scott asked, "He looks just like you."

"Yeah…he's the aptly named 'Rep Ryan'…and as the name implies, he's my reploid self." Ryan said, "Though it appears he's had some enhancements made."

"Heh, perceptive…I've been remade to look more like Darkness Shade and…I now have this." Rep Dark said, pulling out what looked like a Keysaber, "Though it's not an exact copy, its still enough to do the job…but that's besides the point, I'm here to take you to Anse."

"I thought as much…so, can we get going?" Dark said, rather annoyed at his Replicant's ego.

"Very well," Rep Dark said, putting away his artificial Keysaber, "Follow me!"

Rep Dark took off into the air with our heroes in tow.

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Somewhere near Santa's workshop

"So are we there yet?" Dark asked his rep self.

"Almost, it's just over that next glacier." Rep Dark said.

"Hmm…" Ryan said.

"What are you thinking about Ryan?" Scott asked.

"Oh, just stuff about Christmas…" Ryan said.

"What specifically?" Scott asked.

"Oh, just what you can get me for Xmas…" Ryan said, trying not to laugh.

"Oh, and what might that be?" Scott queried, "Besides getting Charmy and Mia back…not to mention saving Santa…"

"Those games you said you'd get me three months ago." Ryan said, laughing.

Scott facefaulted from up where he was flying and went right through the glacier below, leaving an imprint of his body shape.

"Owww…that hurt." Scott said, lifting himself outta the hole and rejoining the others.

"I think you just set the official record for the longest, hardest, and highest up facefault." Dark said, "Congratulations!"

"Um…yeah, that was all just a tad random," Rep Dark said, "Oh, look…there it is."

Up ahead was Santa's workshop, but it now looked like a creepy warzone after the heartless took over.

"Holy Shit! What did they do to it?" Dark said.

"You can think Ansemian's little helper for all this…" Rep Dark said, "This is as far as I go."  
"What? Your not gonna, ya know, like fight us or anything?" Scott asked.

"Nope, I was just the messenger…you'll get your fight soon enough." Rep Dark said, dashing away into the sky.

"Um, so how's the best way to go about this?" Scott said as the group snuck around the perimeter.

"Well, we might as well go for the direct approach, since they probably already detect mine and Dark's Keysabers." Ryan said, peering around a corner.

Sure enough, some Neo Shadows were creeping along.

"Okay, on the count of three…" Ryan said, materializing his Keysaber.

Scott unsheathed his sword and Dark his Keysaber, "Three!!"

The Neo Shadows were taken completely by surprise and were easily decimated.

"Well, onward then…" Dark said, walking through a pair of double doors.

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Inside Santa's Workshop

"Hmm…the last rear entrance Neo Shadow patrol isn't responding…" said 'Terry'.

"Then my good friend Ryan must be here now." Anse said with a laugh, "Let's go make things ready for them."

Ryan kicked in a set of doors leading to a large empty hall, "Okay, come out Anse!! I know you're here!!"

"Couldn't we go with something just a tad more subtle than that?" Scott asked.

"Not really, best to just go get her straight off." Dark said.

Maniacal laughter began to echo through the room.

"So, you made it…but can you defeat the one thing standing between you and me?" Anse's voice said.

Suddenly the lights all came on, blinding our heroes.

"'Terry'…I figured as much." Ryan said.

"He's mine!" Dark said, charging at 'Terry'.

Dark let loose with an Arcs Arcanum attack, smacking 'Terry' around.

"Not good enough…" 'Terry' said, smacking Dark back hard.

"Ugh…guess that wasn't enough." Dark said, kneeling down in pain.

"That's enough!" Ryan said, "It's time to show you my new ability…"

"Ready Dark…Scott?" Ryan asked.

The two nodded and took their stance.

"Trinity Bash!" the three shouted as they all went super at the same time, charging at 'Terry' and letting loose with a relentless barrage of sword and saber swipes.

"Let's hope, that worked…or we're screwed…" Ryan said, turning back to normal and hunching over.

"God, I knew you said you had some kinda new attack for us to use…but damn! That was some crazy Shit!" Scott said, his black cloak in shreds.

"Yeah…." Dark said, his eyes half open, "Wait…that's impossible!"

'Terry' was getting back up.

"Well, it was nice knowing you guys…" Dark said.

"I don't think so!" Scott said pushing a button on his wristwatch, "The game ends here…2MB!"

Suddenly, the song 'Sync' could be heard playing from above.

"Where's that coming from?" Dark asked.

"And what the hell are you talking about Scott?" Ryan asked, before a helicopter blew in the roof of the room and two people came down on ropes.

"We came as soon as we could Scott, but Naoki was joyriding in the company helicopter again…" said TaQ.

"Oh, that's okay…what's a few seconds?" Scott said with a laugh.

"Right…okay 2MB, your coming back with us," said dj TAKA, "so you've got two choices. The hard way…or the easy way."

'Terry' stared at them, then changed his appearance to that of 2MB, "Damn! How'd you find out about me?"

"Well, from what Ryan told me, Terry was a challenge…you were nothing like that." Scott said, "Even though you killed me, I let you."

"So are you coming quietly?" TaQ said, holding a boom box.

"Sorry, but I'm having too much fun." 2MB said, "Let's see you force me!"

"Everyone, cover your ears!" dj TAKA said as TaQ turned on the boombox.

"ARGH! That music…it's horrible…my brain feels like its exploding!" 2MB said, clutching his head.

"What's he listening to?" Dark asked dj TAKA.

"It's Slake's music…and his worse songs too!" dj TAKA said over the noise.

"Oh, everything hurts…my poor ears!" 2MB said as TaQ handcuffed him.

"Come on you…U1 is rather pissed with you and boy is he gonna let you have it when we get back!" TaQ said as he and dj TAKA got back on the helicopter and took off.

"Thanks guys!" Scott said as they flew off.

"I won't even ask how you know them." Ryan said.

"Like I said, I got around in the last three years while I was gone." Scott said with a grin.

"Anyway, let's go…Ansemian is just ahead." Dark said, walking towards the main atrium of Santa's workshop.

Scott knocked down the doors this time, "Hey, that is fun!"

"So I see you've arrived…I take then that you found 2MB out." Anse said.

"Yeah…TaQ and dj TAKA took care of him." Dark said with a chuckle.

"Then I've already lost…though I must say it was fun to go through this again." Anse said, walking down to us.

"Wait, that's it…you're just giving up?" Ryan said.

"Well, perhaps we can explain." Charmy said, walking up from behind Anse.

"It seems that it wasn't really Anse's fault this time…2MB had heard of her power and well, he used her." Mia said, placing her hand on Anse's shoulder.

"I get it, now that 2MB is gone…Anse's her, um, normal self now." Dark said.

"That's the jist of it." Charmy said, "Besides…she took good care of us, so I don't think it'd be fair to finish her off again."

"What about jolly old St.Nicky?" Scott said.

"He's fine…" Anse said, "He's relaxing in the kitchen snacking on some cookies I made."

"So we were angry at you for no reason?" Ryan asked.

"Pretty much." Anse said.

"Well, then what do we do now?" Mia asked.  
"I guess we head home…but what about you Anse?" Dark asked.

"Well…I don't really have anywhere to go…and its not like I can go back home to the others." Anse said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Hmm…" Scott said, his face contorting in the way that showed he was thinking, "There may just be a way to do that."

"Huh?" Anse said as she looked at Scott.

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Thursday December 25

"Merry Christmas Everyone!" Mia shouted as she brought in fresh cocoa and cinnamon rolls.

"Thanks Mia." Dark said, munching on the rolls, "As usual, they're great!"

"Oh, Dark." Mia said, blushing.

"You know what the best part is?" Charmy asked.

"What might that be hon?" Ryan asked.

"The presents!" Charmy said, diving through the pile of gifts at the tree for hers.

Scott just shook his head, "That girl! Though I can think of another girl that's getting her gift right now…"

Somewhere in the reaches of space  


"I hope they still want me around." Anse said, walking towards a certain castle.

Inside…

"Holidays are always hard." Aerith said.  
"Yeah, especially without Anse." Cid said, "Sometimes I wonder if the right things were done."

"Well, from what you've told me, that boy did what he felt best." Cloud said, staring out into the morning sky.

"Well…we can at least remember the good times, right?" Yuffie said, twirling her throwing star.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"I wonder who that could be?" Leon said, going to answer the door.

Leon about fainted when he saw who it was.

"Merry Christmas Squall! It's good to be home…" Anse said with a smile.

The End

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone from Darkness Shade! 

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